Railway-track switch.



W. A. STULL.

RAILWAY TRACK SWITCH.

APPUCATION FILED APR. :9. I915.

wz a'm.

Patented Sept. 7, 1915.

wnznram a. STULL, or'ronr nnrmncnjwns'r vmra.

RAILWAY-TRACK SWITCH.

Specification of Letters Patent Application filed April 19, 1915. Serial No. 22357.

To all whom 'it may concern? Be it known that L'WILLIAM A. ST LL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fort Defiance, in the countyof Fayette and State of West Virginia, have invented oertain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Track Switches, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanyina, drawings.

My presentinvention relates to new and useful improvements in switches and has more particular reference El i ' to' -switches of the type employed in connectionwith narrow-gage tracks in coal or other names, wherem a brakeman usually controls the movement of each car.

One of the primary objects of the invention is to provide a switch operating mecha- 1 nism which may be employed in connection with a switch of the trailing type, so that the passing of a car or train of cars through the switch, from the siding on to themain track. will not necessitate the manual shifting'of the switch controlling lever, the niechanism being so designed that the po nt rail mayyield to permit the car wheels to pass fr om the siding tracks on to the main track and to automatically return'the'point rail.

to a closedposition for the main track, as soon as the cars'pass onto the same;

v A further object of the invention-is provide a switch operating mechanism :of the above type which the shifting, lever for the pointrail is mounted for movement in a path parallel to the main track so that the lever may be readily"operatedgfromthe front of a motorg'atherer.

Another objectis soconstruct:the op-, erating mechanism that .thepoint rail shift in lever' and consequentlyj the point rail itself will be rieldaoly-slneld in either open or closed track position when-the shiftingv 4 s sts of a pair of substantially semi-c rcular bars 13 which are arranged in parallel spaced relation to each other and. are pro A further'ob'ect and one'iof importance,

is to construct the switch mechanism with lever has been adjusted.

; such regard toproportiori, nurnber'andiar;

rang'ementofuparts that may be cheaply man1'1factured.-will he durable and efficient lowing specification, and then more partici'i v service and mar be readi-lv applied to 'apoint-railofatrack. a

The above, and other incidental ob ects by such means as are illustrated in. the accompanying drawings, ;-descr1bed 1n the folrailway track larly pointed' out inthe claims which are appended hereto and form part of this appllcation.

With reference'to the drawings, wherein there has been. illustrated thepreferred embodiment of this invention, as it is reduced to practice, and throughout the several views of whichsimilar reference numerals deslgnate corresponding parts, F gure 1 is nism co nnected to the-point rails at the unction oi the main track and siding; Fig.

Patented Sept. a, leis.

a top plan view sho'wlng'the switch media- 2 is a detail section on the line 22, Fig.

1; Fig '3 is a detail perspective View of the operatingrod and the lower portion of the shiftinr'- lever .andthe link. which connects the rodand lever; and Fig. his a detail perspective View of the. lever which controls the toggle arm and the bracket by-Which 1t is attached'to the supporting frame or stand. p

As best disclosed in Fig. .1; thegswitch stand and switch mechanism-is adapted to be secured upon the outer ends. of the track ties A, whereby it may be 'operatively conneoted to the point rails B which lead from the main track rails C to the siding rails D.-

Th e switch stand is preferably formed in the nature', of a rectangular frame which includes the. parallel side bars '10 "and the transverse connecting bars 11', oi1e of which is arranged at the center of-the' side members and the other two of whiclrare secured j at the terminals thereof. This frame conjising from the stand or frame is 'a sup-- porting bridge in which the shifting lever 12 is Ipivoted. The supporting bridge con- -vided at their lower terminals with the out-- :wa'rdly extending lugs or plates 14, through "which bolts; rivets vor equivalent fastening devices are passed for securing the'mem:

bers 13 to the side bars 10 of thesupporting istand. In connecting the shifting lever to of a similar-nature which will behereinafter a jpe rail, I p oy. p' g d 1 more speci, icallyftreated' are accomplished:

and a: bell crank lever 16. -The operating rod'lfi' ispreferably formed from a single stituted: by the inembersj10 andl1 is se- -I"od of steel, or the like, which is. bent ad]acent one terminal, forming an arm 17 which is disposed in parallel spaced relation to the main portion of the rod. The rod is dis posed for sliding movement over the side. bars 10 and held against transverse movement with respect to the shifting lever by vmeans of the bars 13 which, as will be seen minal of the shifting lever by means of a when adjusted to either open or close the 26, when adjusted te either open or close the link 18 which may be of any desired construction. i i

The bell crank lever 16 is mounted upon a fixed pivot 19 which is secured to the intermediate bar 11 and passes through the bell crank lever at the junction of the two arms 20 and 21 thereof. The arm 20 is connected by a pivotal link 22 and rod 23, to the point rails B, as best disclosed in Fig. ,1. The arm 21 is pivotally connected by a pivot pin 2% to a link 25. This link 25 is pivotally connected at its rear end by a pin 26 to the rod 15. The pivot 24 further serves to connect the inner end of the toggle arm 27 to tha bell crank lever and to the operating ro The outer end of the toggle arm 27 is pivotally connected to a lever 28, one end of which is pivotally secured within a bracket 28 to the supporting stand and the other terminal of which is engaged by a contractile helical spring 29. The member 29 extends transversely with respect to the operatingrod and is secured at its inner end by a bracket 30 which is member 10,; p I

i It is now to be explained that the spring 29 normally exerts a pull upon the free end of the lever 28, thereby normally tending to draw-the free end of this membertoward the operating rod. Since the shifting lever,

fastened upon the point rails, carries the pivot 24 beyond the transverse line connecting the pivots 19 and point rails B, it is obvious that the arm 21 of the bell crank lever and the toggle 27: will be diagonally arranged with respect to the operating rod and that the distance between the pivotal points 19 and 26 will be less than the combined length of the members 21 and 2'7. Thus the spring 29 will act, when the shifting lever has been adjusted to either open or close the point rails, to draw the free end of the lever 28 toward the rod and thus resist the further adjustment of the lever.

-that the form Of'thlS invention illustrated in the drawings and referred to in the above description as the preferred embodiment is the most eificient and practical; yet realizing that the conditions. concurrent with the parts may be resorted to,

adoption of this device will necessarily vary, it is desirable to emphasize the fact that various minor changes in the details of construction, proportion and arrai'lgcmcnt of when required. without sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention, as defined bythe appended claims.

What is claimed is 1. In a switch mechanism, the combination with a point rail, of a shifting lever, a bridge member piv tally supporting the lever, an operating rod mounted for sliding movement through the bridge member and freely connected to the shifting lever, a bell crank lever having a fixed pivot, one arm of said bell crank lever being connected to the operating rod, means freely connecting the other arm of the bell crank lever to the point rail, and yieldable means for normally holding the operating rod in adjusted position.

2. In a switch mechanism, the combination with a point rail, of a shi ting lever, a bridge member pivotally supporting'the lever, an operating rod mounted for sliding movement through the bridge member and freely connected to the shifting lever, a bell crank lever having a fixed pivot, one arm of said bell crank lever being connected to the operating rod, means freely connecting the other arm of the bell crank lever to the point rail, a toggle arm pivotally connected to the bell crank lever and to the operating rod, a lever pivoted for movement at its free end toward and away from the operating rod, and yieldable means normally drawing the free end of the lever toward the operating rod, whereby the toggle arm is yieldably maintained in position to resist the movement of the operating rod.

3. In a switch mechanism, the combination with a point rail, of a shifting lever, a

bridge member pivotally supporting""the lever, an operating rod mounted for sliding movement through the bridge member and freely connected to the shifting lever, means operatively connecting the rod to the point rail, and yieldable means for normally holding the operating rod in adjusted position.

4. In" a switch mechanism, the combination with a pointmail, of a shifting lever, a bridge member pivotally supporting the lever, said bridge imember including spaced, substantially semi-circular bars, the lever bebridge member comprising spaced, substantially semi-circular bars, the lever being pivotally supported between the bars, an operating rod slidable between the bars, one terminal of the rod being re-bent and extended in arallel spaced relation to the body of the rod a link pivota-lly connecting said re-bent terminal of the rod with the shifting lever, means operatively connecting the rod and point rails, and yieldable means for maintaining the rod in adjusted position.

6. In a switch mechanism, the combination with a point rail, of a bridge member, a shifting lever pivoted in the bridge, and operating rod mounted for sliding movement through the bridge member, means operatively connecting the rod and point rail, a lever pivoted at its one terminal adjacent the bridge member, a toggle pivotally connecting the rod and lever, and yieldable 'means connected to the free end of the lever WILLIAM A. STULL' Witnesses:

R. H. MILLER, O. L. WINEBRENNER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. U." 

